Kurdish women in Syria gathered in different cities on Saturday to show solidarity with their Iranian Kurdish counterparts, marking the one-year anniversary of the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini after she was detained by Iran’s morality police.
Amini’s death on 16 September 2022 sparked a wave of anti-regime protests in Iran, which were met with a heavy-handed response from security forces, particularly in the Kurdish regions known as Rojhilat.
Led by women’s organisations in North and East Syria, the commemorations and demonstrations highlighted the oppression of women under the pretext of tradition, culture and religious authority by male-dominated states.
In a unified voice, the women condemned all acts of violence against women in the name of Islam, holding up Amini’s case as a symbol of their resistance. They expressed their solidarity and support for the wave of women-led uprisings across Iran under the slogan “Jin Jiyan Azadî” (Woman Life Freedom).